loyalty: faithfulness to commitments or obligations
Loyalty - as defined above - has always been a bedrock value for me. Unfortunately, because a secondary definition - faithful adherence to a sovereign, a government, cause, or the like - has taken hold in our contentious national conversation, loyalty has now joined a long-running list of words that can haunt me.
This is disheartening; being unfailingly loyal to friends and loved ones has long been a source of pride for me. But the toxicity recently attached to loyalty has infected me. How to begin reclaiming the word without aligning myself with a concept like taking a loyalty oath? Trying to ensure faithful adherence to a person - vs. being committed to uphold the laws of our land - is a distortion of this sacred value. Keeping commitments and fulfilling obligations are words to live by. A loyalty oath unconnected to the Constitution is antithetical to our democracy.
Ever felt a connection to someone you don't know well based simply on your sense that the person is fiercely loyal? I have. But the variety of loyalty that draws me toward someone has little to do with their faithful adherence to a sovereign, a government, cause, or the like. I'm drawn to those who are loyal to friends and loved ones. In my experience, loyalty is not something easily faked. Chronically disloyal people? Easy to spot; they reveal themselves by deed, oath or not.
I concur. It shows how a word can have more than one meaning. My Mom always said I was a loyal person. Luckily she meant the first definition of loyalty. What is going on in this country is not only disheartening, it is frightening.
ReplyDeleteInes; Thanks for the comment and concurrence. I'm a little frightened as well but I'm trying to counteract my fear with activism. All I can do.
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